The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, A pril 3, 2008 - 5A
CENTRAL MICHIGAN 7, MICHIGAN 3
Unnspired play doo ms
Poor pitching,
lack of timely hitting
lead to defeat
By CHRIS MESZAROS
Daily Sports Writer
MOUNT PLEASANT - With
the bases loaded and one out in
the top of the seventh inning, the
Michigan baseball team had a
great opportunity to erase a four-
run deficit.
Fittingly, senior slugger Nate
Recknagel grounded into a double
play.
It was that kind of day for the
Wolverines (14-7), who played
poorly in all facets of a 7-3 loss to
Central Michigan yesterday.
"It felt like a lack of enthusiasm
today," senior Leif Mahler said.
"Everyone just seemed kind of
dead. We didn't really come ready
to play today and it showed out
there."
But things didn't start off so
badly.
In the second inning, Michigan
took a 3-0 lead. With the bases
loaded, Mahler started the scoring
with a two-run single to left field.
A Central Michigan wild pitch
scored another run.
"When we scored three there I
thought we put ourselves in a good
position," Michigan coach Rich
Maloney said. "I thought we were
going to play good baseball."
But the Wolverines never did.
The Chippewas (9-15) came
right back in the bottom of the sec-
ond, scoring five runs after a lead-
off walk. Maloney pulled starting
pitcher Matt Miller after the fresh-
man gave up four runs (two earned)
in 1.1 innings. The two other runs
resulted from an error by sopho-
more right fielder Alan Oaks, who
misplayed a fly ball.
"When you have three runs,
then turn around and give up five,
that's the kiss of death right there,"
Maloney said. "We gave them two
freebies and allowed them back
Michigan coach Red Berenson will return to practice today after attending to a
family matter in Saskatchewan.
Wolverines savor
calm before storm
RODRIGO GAYA/Daily
Senior Nate Recknagel grounded into a bases-loaded double play in the seventh inning of yesterday's loss at Central Michigan.
in the game. It changed the whole
complex of the game in a matter of
a few moments."
After Central Michigan did its
damage in the inning, Michigan
never responded. The Wolver-
ines had their best chance in the
seventh, when Chippewa pitcher
Chris Kupillas seemed to be run-
ning out of gas. Freshman Ryan
LaMarre, junior Kevin Cislo and
senior Derek VanBuskirk started
the inning with singles to load the
bases in what looked like an oppor-
tunity to get back in the game.
But Recknagel hit a weak ground
ball to third base that was convert-
ed into a double play, ending the
last Wolverine threat of the game.
Perhaps the biggest concern for
Maloney now is the lack of produc-
tion at all levels of the game. The
Wolverines gave up far too many
"freebies" for his liking, giving up
eight walks and committing three
errors.
"We had a lot of opportunities to
score today, and we didn't doa lot
of things," Mahler said. "We didn't
play defense well and we gave up
walks. We did all the things that
we were trying to eliminate all
year, all those mistakes."
After Miller left the game, four
other pitchers took the mound,
none of whom managed to com-
pletely shut down Central Michi-
gan. The Chippewas put men on
base in all but the first inning.
"We beat ourselves - that'sk
the thing that's hard to swallow,"
Maloney said.
Team "upbeat" in
relaxed practices
before Frozen Four
By COURTNEY RATKOWIAK
Daily SportsEditor
After six months with little free
time, all but four college hockey
teams now have plenty.
And although their offseason
hasn't yet begun, the Wolverines
have finally earned a few days of
rest.
With the day off Monday and
an optional skate Tuesday, some
used their free time to catch up on
schoolwork, play video games and
go to the Michigan baseball home
game this weekend.
Michigan returned to the ice
yesterday for its first organized
practice since clinching a Frozen
Four berth with a 2-0 win over
Clarkson Saturday.
Though every player skated,
Michigan coach Red Berenson was
in Saskatchewan attending to a
family matter. He was not at prac-
tice yesterday or Tuesday, leaving
assistant coaches Mel Pearson and
Billy Powers behind the bench.
"With him not being here, guys,
are a little more' ackadaisical, a"
little more lazy, and so I guess it'll
.,be nice to have him back," senior,
Kevin Porter said Tuesday.
But after three days without a
full practice, Michigan looked re-
energized yesterday afternoon.
Powers said the team, usually rela-
tively quiet during practice, has
been exceptionally vocal -while
skating this week. He refrained
from referring to the practice as
"loose," a term that has often had
negative connotations for the Wol-
verines this year, and instead called
the team's attitude "upbeat."
"The volume and the intensity
and the chatter that was going
on today were actually positive
because the execution was excel-
lent," Powers said. "I think they're
still a little giddy."
The Wolverines' friendly com-
petition showed near the end of
practice, when the team squared
off in a 2-on-2 game spanning half
the neutral zone. During a break
in play, forward Travis Turnbull
playfully flung a puck overthe glass
and into the stands. When defen-
seman Steve Kampfer scored the
winning goal in the mini-game, he
raised his arms and skated around
while his teammates roared in cel-
ebration.
Some of the Wolverines are
using this week to improve skills
that aren't addressed during high-
intensity practices. Freshmen
Aaron Palushaj and Louie Capo-
russo stayed on the ice after yes-
terday's practice, as they and other
freshmen often have this season,
taking advantage of the extra time
to practice slick stickhandling and
fancy goals.
And for freshman Matt Rust,
who has been playing with a hair-
line fracture in his fibula since
the final weekend of the CCHA
Tournament, the low-key practice
schedule has meant extra time to
continue to heal. He said it's still
painful to put pressure on the leg,
especiallywhile stopping and start-
ing on the ice, but this week's prac-
tice schedule has eased the pain of
A battering weekend in Albany.
With the Wolverines leaving
Monday night for Denver, their
intensity will escalate during the
rest of the week.
But for now, the low-key prac-
tices have kept the young team's
morale high and stress level low.
"(Porter and Kolarik) have
allowed (the freshmen) tobeyoung
kids the rest of the week," Pow-
ers said. "They goof around. They
make mistakes. You can laugh at
them for some of the things they
do. Nobody's attempted to take
away the newness or try to make
them grow up too quickly."
Wet field delays softball home opener
Fans who showed up
treated to practice,
meet-and-greet
By IAN KAY
Daily Sports Writer
A soggy outfield forced the post-
ponement of the Michigan softball
team's home opener yesterday, but
that didn't prevent fans from get-
ting a good look at the squad.
Spectators watched the Wolver-
ines take infield and hitting prac-
tice, then mingled with players at
the first-ever Michigan Softball
Meet and Greet.
Despite clear skies and a balmy
- for Ann Arbor - game-time
temperature of 47 degrees, the
stadium's new drainage system
didn't remove enough water from
the outfield turf to make the field
playable.
"There was too big of a chance
that someone could get hurt,"
Michigan coach Carol Hutchins
said. "And we could tear up (the
field) so that we couldn't play on it
in two days."
The contest against Bowling
Green was rescheduled for next
Wednesday, but many fans were
RODRIGOGAYA/Daily
Michigan coach Carol Hutchins talks with fans at the Michigan softball team's first
meet-and-greet in Oosterbaan Fieldhouse yesterday.
onlookers. Players signed auto-
graphs and posed for pictures with
local highschool softball teams and
young children.
"You just have this really big
sense of community," senior out-
fielder Michelle Weatherdon said
before pausing to sign her name on
a young girl's poster. "You can tell a
lot of our fans really care about our
sport and about Michigan, so it's
really exciting to have people come
in and be able to talk to them."
Mike Rozelle, who runs the soft-
ball team's booster club, brought
his granddaughter to the event so
she could see the softball players up
close. Rozelle said that these types
of events matter because where
football, basketball and hockey fans
often overlook sports like softball.
"We like to put some of these
other teams in front of fans and get
them out to support the team, so
this is an opportunity to do that,"
he said. "Hopefully, the new stadi-
um has a big impact this year."
Hutchins was pleased with the
event and hoped fans enjoyed the
opportunity to get to know some of
the team's student-athletes.
"Michigan softball has a great
community following, especially
with a lot of young kids," Hutchins
said. "Our players are great role
models."
unaware of the postponement and
arrived at Alumni Field at 4 p.m.
anyway. After learning the game
would not be played, some stayed
to watch the team's afternoon
practice session while waiting for
the meet-and-greet to begin.,
They were treated to a view of
Michigan's training routine, as
Wolverine players rehearsed field-
ing bunts on the infield and took
batting practice. Freshman first
baseman Dorian Shaw took center
stage by launching four homeruns,
including a towering shot that
landed on the roof of the Indoor
Track Building.
"It kind of made it seem game-
like,"junior shortstop Teddi Ewing
said of practicing in front of fans.
"It was cool to see people sitting
up in the new stands. It was a good
practice day, and it's good to be out
there on the field."
After finishing its workout, the
team moved inside to Oosterbaan
Fieldhouse, where Hutchins intro-
duced the team and recapped the
non-conference portion of the 2008
season in front of several dozen
At least in practice, Blue savors crack of the bat
Softball team sees
improvement using
wooden baseball
bats in practice
By RUTH LINCOLN
Daily Sports Writer
Look into the Michigan softball
team's practice batting cages, and
you might find something unusu-
al: wooden baseball bats.
Since Spring Break, the fifth-
ranked Wolverines have replaced
their composite softball bats with
wooden baseball bats during bat-
ting practice.
"They're part of our repertoire,"
Michigan coach Carol Hutchins
said. "I've used baseball bats off
and on over the years but not reg-
ularly. There are some drills we do
regularly, and they're definitely
going to be one of them."
The Wolverines hope their
distinctive batting practice tech-
niques continue to pay off when
they play Iowa Friday.
Hutchins said some of her vet-
eran players tend to throw their
whole upper body out when they
swing. Practicing with baseball
bats encourages hitters to swing
through with their hands and
extend the bat's barrel out fur-
ther.
After correcting hitting tech-
niques with heavier wooden bats,
the players can smoothly transi-
tion back to lighter composite bats
during games.
"Yeah, we're using baseball
bats, but the same thing applies
when you have a softball and a
softball bat," freshman first base-
man Dorian Shaw said. "Throwing
your hands out, just those basics,
really reinforce whenwe use them
everyday in practice. Then you
just get to the game without even
thinking about it."
And since Spring Break, Mich-
igan's team batting average has
increased.
Holding a team average of
.272 on March 1, the Wolverines
(4-0 Big Ten, 28-3 overall) have
improved at the plate each week-
end. They now lead the Big Ten
with their .294 average.
"Our consistency with these
drills and just sticking with them,
not doing them one day in practice
and then moving to something
completely different, is really
beneficial," Shaw said. "The fact
that the coaches really emphasize
that we do a good job of it in prac-
tice really helps us to think about
those things in the games."
The Wolverines have seen con-
sistent production from the entire
lineup. In last weekend's four-
game road trip, Michigan out-
scored its opponents 29-2. And in
a six-inning mercy-rule 8-0 win
over conference foe Purdue, seven
Wolverines registered hits.
The Hawkeyes (1-1, 22-11) have
two strong pitchers in sophomore
Amanda Zust and junior Brittany
Weil. The Iowa pitchers currently
rank third and fourth in the con-
ference in earned runs average
(0.93 and 1.13, respectively).
They trail only Michigan's
pitching tandem of freshman Jor-
dan Taylor and sophomore Nikki
Nemitz (0.55 and 0.73 respective-
ly).
But if the hitting improvements
are any indication, the Wolver-
ines will put up a fight against the
strong Hawkeye pitching.
"We're swinging better,"
Hutchins said. "I'm really encour-
aged by it."
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